Turks 2013

[chitap]

Hi Everyone, 

 

I just returned from my wedding which was on Dec. 8, 2012.  We were down there for almost 2 weeks - we extended our stay a few times because leaving the island felt wrong.  We had an amazing time there and wish it never ended.  Our wedding was amazing and in the grand scheme of weddings, it was flawless!

 

You may have seen in previous posts that I had some difficulties early on with their constant staff changing and re-orginization within their company but, I hung in there bc my husband and I could only imagine getting married there.  It was frustrating at times but, in the end The Gansevoort was great!  Their staff could not be friendlier - with the exception on me getting busted in  my wedding dress on a bike that I was trying to ride into the pool - fail.  The staff was super accommodating, helpful, and really just wanted to make sure our experience was everything we had dreamed about.  Everyone from housekeeping to the GM was exceptional.  

 

Linda Cangro who at the time I signed my contract was the wedding coordinator but, I believe she is only on the Food and Bev side of the wedding planning now was very helpful.  I met her in NYC and she was able to get a feel for what we wanted and who we are.  She was extremely helpful during the ceremony and reception, paid great attention to detail and made sure I was ok.  Throughout the planning she followed up and tried to get everything in order for me.  

 

Stephen Garland - F & B manager was amazing and so helpful and instrumental in making sure everything was perfect.  He made sure every detail that I had concern for was taken care of from the lights to pouring me and my bridal party shots on our way down to the beach.  I was very grateful for all of his efforts and hard work.  He even set us up with a gorgeous romantic dinner on the beach on our last night.  

 

Matthew Doerner - Chef of Stelle restaurant.  Great Chef, super accomodating, hardworking, and Delicious!  I ended up speaking directly to Matthew bc I was not 100% on any of the options that were being given to me and going through a third party is not always effective.  After we chatted and got to know each other he sent me an amazing menu.  We flew down for a tasting  before our wedding which exceeded our expectations and it did not fall short at the wedding.  Our family and friends were in love with  the food!  The only complaint I got when I followed up with guests was that there wasn't enough food brought out during cocktail hour.  I did ask during the cocktail hour where all the food was bc I noticed it was lagging and the wedding day coordinator that I hired (Teresa Brunner) told me there was plenty of food and pointed to a tray going by - OK Thanks.  All in all I had 3 of the 6 hor'dourves from the menu - Spring rolls, Mushroom Pizza, Beetroots, Tuna crudo, Conch salad and Prosciutto and Mozzarella Involtini.  (Please note that most of my guest are huge foodies and would notice things like that).  Our dinner menu was a buffet and it had  48 hour marinated Skirt Steak, Grilled Lobster tails with 3 accompanying sauces, Red Snapper with a red curry sauce, and Jerk Chicken as the main proteins.  Everything was delicious.  The Yuzu Hollandaise that was served with the lobster was to die for.  Our Sides were Truffled Cauliflower - Super yummy, Lobster Truffled Mac n cheese - a crowd favorite, broccolini, Tuscan potatoes, rice, and a few salads - chick pea with carrots, caprese, and a beet salad.  (The salads were the least favorite of the guests - not that they were bad just, not WOW as most of the other food was.  We went with a Buffet over sit down because we didn't want to eat up 1.5-2hrs of time with a sit down.  

 

Jean-Francois Tremblay - The guest services manager was simply a delight.  He made you feel special and important.  No matter where he was headed to he'd always stop to chat and make sure you were enjoying your stay and everything was good.  He was always eager to help, no matter what the task.  At one point I had a bag of food in my hand that I wanted to give a guest and he took it and delivered it for me.  He is 5 star service.  

 

We had about 60 guests for the wedding.  I did most things myself, speaking and dealing directly to vendors, etc. I only hired a planner for the day of to help everything go smoothly.   My rehearsal dinner was at The Grace Bay Club which was absolutely amazing!  It was a toss up for the wedding between the Gansevoort and GBC and in the end I got both.  The Friday festivities was really a welcome party rather than a rehearsal dinner.  We had a cocktail hour in the outdoor lounge by the fire pit.  Gorgeously lit, comfy, open bar, live band (I piggy backed onto GBC live band so I didn't have to pay for music).  The food spread they had for dinner was amazing and I have guests still raving about how amazing it was.  Friday night was really like a wedding in itself.  Ajay the Food and Bev Director (ajay.vyas@gracebayclub.com)

and Shameka their wedding coordinator were very helpful.  I could not be happier with GBC.  We paid for our guest to be transported to and from.  Cab fee was about $8 per person.  Please contact me for further details on GBC.  

 

Day of the wedding;

• I had Briggite from Tangled Hair Salon (www.tangledhairsalonprovidenciales.com)  come to my room for hair.  $40 out call and $85 for my hair.  $25 for trial which I had 2 on previous trips.  
• Thea Gangasingh did my make-up ( https://www.facebook.com/theamakeupartistry,  Email:  thea.mua@gmail.com).
• Cyrile from Environmental Arts did my flowers for the bouquets and boutenniers.  We took our photos before the ceremony so we wouldn't miss our cocktail party.  events@environmentalarts.tc
• Our photographers/videographers were amazing!  Please contact me for their details.  
• We had our good friend officiate our wedding since we were already married by the Justice of the Peace before heading down.
• I rented stuff from Teresa Brunner and she also did my table flower arrangements ($700) to help save $$ bc they were very costly through the florist.  I also rented burlap table runners ($20ea), shepherd hooks ($10) with mason hanging jars ($8) for my aisle markers, Sparklers ($15-20 each) and 2 post Chuppa decorated with sheer white panels, hydrangea bunches and starfish from her for $600.   I hired Teresa for the day of the wedding ($75 p/hr) so I wouldn't have to worry about setting things up, etc.  She set it up and managed my timeline.  For further detail please contact me.  
• I hired DJ Williams for my party and it was great.  I gave him a bunch of songs I liked for cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing and he put them together.  Our music was great and even the front desk staff danced.  5 HOURS PLUS 1 HOUR FOR SPEAKERS AND MICROPHONE FOR CEREMONY @ $100 ($375 P/HR for DJ).  williejamz@hotmail.com
• I purchased my cake from Diane Guess who made me a 10" round so I could put my cake topper on it and also made 2DZ cupcakes for the grooms cake which we also brought our own toppers for.  ($321 - includes 2 stands)  guess@express.tc

 

 

Items I brought down:

• Gift Bags - Etsy
• Advil packets - ordered on amazon
• sunscreen wipes - amazon
• bug spray wipes - amazon
• Paper bag material napkin ring printed with guest names - Etsy
• snorkels - purchased locally
• underwater cameras - ebay
• gum/candy - costco
• votives - mercury glass from pottery barn outlet in riverhead (gorgeous and worth it - $2 each)
• tea lights - amazon 
• seating chart - in efforts to not weigh down my luggage I bought art canvas from Michaels and glued seagrass wall   paper to it and made a decorative background with the table number and guests table)  it was really pretty
• thumbprint tree - also made with a canvas, seagrass wallpaper and then thumbprint tree from etsy
• flip flops - purchased a variety of sizes and more of the average size.  Sizes were 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 12-13.  So more of the middle sizes.  For the most part I had a good idea of the shoe sizes since we're really close with the friends that came.  
• polaroid camera for a guest book
• guest book
• pens for guest book
• pashmina's for people when the were chilly.  Instead of renting decorative pillows from teresa at $15 each I went to chinatown and bought a bunch for $3each in my two main colors and draped them over the couches we had set up around the dance floor.  

 

 

Please contact me for further details.  We spent 2 weeks there and can really offer some insight.  Happy Planning!

[chitap]

Hi!  Congrats on your engagement and your upcoming wedding!  I just got married in Turks on Dec. 8. at the Gansevoort.  If you are looking for photog options I had an amazing photographer and videographer that I brought down with me.  I paid for their flight out of Boston, $302 each on united and I put them in a room together at our hotel.  They were amazing and were able to capture not just our wedding day but any time we were out they would photograph us, even snorkeling.  The photographer, Robert Gill teaches photography at Harvard and Campbell Brewer works for a world travel company making videos.  I'm still waiting for my video bc we had a special film but, I can share another video for you to view.  

 

https://vimeo.com/50463467

password: rahilly

 

We had an amazing rehearsal dinner which was more of a welcome dinner since we invited all 60 guests.  It couldn't have been better.  It was at Grace Bay Club.  I can introduce you to the director if you'd like.  Absolutely amazing.  

 

Let me know if you have any questions I can help with.  

 

Chita

[Lauren McNamara]

HI, I am getting married at the Seven Stars in August. How did you get the sparklers to the island? Did you ship them? Was it costly?

Also, what colors did you use for the wedding? I like the idea of using burlap. Did you use the local flower at all?

How did you like Thea's makeup?

 

Thanks, 

NJ bride Lauren

[stephcee]

Hi Chita, I just wrote you a pm but I'm not sure if it went through! You are so very helpful and we have so much in common with our wedding plans. I'm glad to hear about your wedding being perfect!

[shannamarie]

Wow, I can't believe I missed this entire thread! I am getting married Aug 2 on Grace Bay Beach in front of Bay Bistro. You ladies have been busy chatting it up and I'm totally going to get caught up on this; there's so much good information! Thanks, Dani! We are staying at the Sibonne with all of our guests. I would have like to stay at a resort, but the prices were just better at Sibonne and I don't figure we'll spend too much time in the hotel anyway. We are only going to have about 15 people on the island with us and will be having a formal (dress and all) AHR a couple of weeks after we return. We are planning to send out reception invites that say something like'...we will be getting married on...in T&C... please join us to celebrate...' We are going to have our DJ show a slide show of our reception right before our entrance.

I just wanted to introduce myself, because I plan on jumping in here once I get caught up

[shannamarie]

Chita, were you officially married on the island or in the states? We hired a planner because I wanted to be 100% on paper work and getting an officiant. I'm still a little confused about where to get an affidavit stating that we have never been married. Can you help? 

[chitap]

Hi Shannamarie, You can get married by the justice of the peace in the US before or after you go. We didn't want to be married by a random officiate and it meant more to us to have a friend of 32 years marry us. It was really special to us. Who did you hire as your planner?

[shannamarie]

We are working with Keisha Delancy and Destination TCI. The process of doing it there seems easy enough, I was just hoping to talk to someone who's already done it. Since my last post, Keisha has cleared up my questions, I just always like to hear from someone who has experienced it. We had talked about having a justice of the peace do it here before we go, but neither of us is in love with the idea.

[Danie]

Hey Girls:

 

 I am getting very excited its only 3 months away before our big day. I can't wait to go to the island. I love this site and love hearing everyone's ideas. Congrats to those that just got married and had a fab wedding. That's so cool.

[Lauren McNamara]

Hi girls, I was wondering what company and what type of wedding insurance everyone is getting for their wedding? Also, has anyone shipped anything to Turks? Is it very expensive? I want to send sparklers, plate chargers and linens down since I do not know if they have them. Thanks